Attorney: Defendant won't take the stand in sex assault trial

TRENTON — Darren Maglione won’t take the witness stand to defend himself against allegations he tongue kissed a 12-year-old girl after pulling her panties down.

His lawyer, Robin Lord, told Mercer County Superior County Andrew Smithson the suspect won’t be testifying when his trial on sex-assault charges resumes Monday.

Maglione, a computer businessman, is charged with kissing the child in a most intimate way when he was 39 and she was not yet 13 at his Robbinsville home during the summer of 2009.

For more than a year after getting caught in the woods on a blanket with Maglione, the girl would not tell authorities what had been going on between them. She finally admitted to some kisses, offense enough for cops to bring charges.

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But the victim, now 16, dropped some bombshells when she took the stand testify on Tuesday. For the first time ever, she was explicit about how far the couple had gone after slipping away to the bathroom or loft while his kids watched television and his wife was not home.

The case is being heard by a jury panel of nine men and five women who on Thursday heard an expert psychologist, Dr. Lynn Taska, testify about “Child Sex Abuse Accommodation Syndrome,” in which young victims often blame themselves and try to keep the abuse secret.

In her testimony, the victim said she loved Maglione and that they often spoke of revealing their secret affair and getting married when she turned 18. She said she was afraid of getting him in trouble by telling police the truth about them.

In addition of aggravated sexual assault, Maglione is charged with installing spyware on a laptop he gave the girl, one of several gifts given that summer, including jewelry, a cell phone and a pink harmonica.